CBI ex-chief A. P. Singh faces criminal link taint

Former CBI director A.P. Singh is in deep trouble with a report submitted by the Income Tax department to the Supreme Court on Friday revealing that he was in touch on a daily basis with controversial Delhi-based meat exporter Moin Qureshi, who is being probed for hawala transactions.

The report also said ex-CBI boss helped save the accused in “many cases”. The report, however, gave a clean chit to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, saying there was no proof of links between him and Qureshi. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the I-T department had only uncovered indirect references about Sinha in Qureshi’s conversations with other persons.

“The report reveals an astonishing state of affairs (that is) wholly unbecoming and revealing the shocking conduct of a former CBI director, now a member of the UPSC. He was in regular touch with Qureshi and there were BBM exchanges between them on a daily basis and that too in code language.

An Income Tax report has disclosed 'astonishing' state of affairs between former CBI director A. P. Singh (left) and meat exporter Moin Qureshi

Many of the messages clearly revealed plans to save the accused in many cases,” Rohatgi told a bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur.

The report gave a clear indication that Qureshi was allegedly a conduit for the accused in several cases being probed by CBI and Singh, he said.

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Rohatgi made the remarks while presenting the summary of the I-T department’s assessment report about Qureshi, which was filed in a sealed cover. Qureshi has come under scrutiny for violating tax laws.

‘Just a trailer’

“What I stated is only a trailer and the picture abhi baki hain (the movie remains), your lordship. What all went on is shocking and I’m pained to say this,” Rohatgi said.

Rohatgi said Qureshi’s phones were tapped and his computers seized. The tapes of recorded conversations “disclosed criminality and the government will soon take a call (whether) to send the matter to law enforcement authorities”, he said.

Qureshi hit the headlines during the controversy over the visitors’ diary at Sinha’s official residence, which purportedly showed that the CBI chief met the accused and people connected to several sensitive cases being probed by the agency. The allegedly revealed that Qureshi and his wife visited Sinha’s residence at least 90 times in the past 15 months. The frequent visits of former CBI chief Singh are also reflected in the diary.

When the I-T department raided Qureshi’s residence in February, officials had allegedly found BBM messages exchanged by him and Singh. Qureshi reportedly runs one of his offices from the basement of Singh’s residence in New Delhi’s Defence Colony.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who recently sought the recusal of Sinha from the probe saying that he “colluded” with various accused, had alleged that Qureshi was a link between several accused in the coal scam and the CBI director. Bhushan is also the petitioner in a PIL seeking a probe into the coal scam.

But Rohatgi, quoting the I-T department’s report, said: “There is no proof of direct contact between Qureshi and the CBI director. Maybe some innuendos without naming the CBI director… maybe some indirect references.”